Roman Crucifixion

The resurrection of Christ finished His work of liberating us from the curse of sin. We need a liberator because we all have a natural tendency to disregard and scorn the law of God. That law requires us to love God with our whole being and to love our neighbor as much as ourselves. But rather than submitting to these demands, we exalt self to the place of god and pursue lives of sinful self-centeredness. The Bible teaches, however, that God will not admit sinners to eternal life in His presence. The penalty for sin is death. Yet God loves us as His creation and through Christ has provided a remedy. When Christ suffered and died on a cross, He took the full penalty for our sin upon Himself. In consequence, God can overlook our sin and grant us eternal life. All we must do to obtain it is to receive Jesus as our Savior.

But even if we recognize that Jesus endured the cross to become our Savior, we may not fully understand the true horror of His suffering. Roman crucifixion was a gruesome form of capital punishment. The victim suffered excruciating pain for hours, even days, before the rigors of the cross finally snuffed out his life. In its most common form, the cross consisted of two pieces of wood. The upright, called the simplex, was permanently fixed in the ground. The crosspiece, called the patibulum, was carried to the site of execution by the condemned man. This task was in itself an ordeal, since the crosspiece was a stout beam weighing more than a hundred pounds. Literary sources suggest that the familiar picture of Jesus' cross is inaccurate. It is likely that the crosspiece rested on the upright, instead of being fastened to it at some distance below the top. That is, the cross of Jesus probably had the shape of a capital letter T.

In 1968, archaeologists discovered the remains of a Jew who had been crucified during the era of Christ. It was possible from the skeletal evidence to determine exactly how the man had been fastened to a cross. A crude iron spike from five to seven inches long was driven through each wrist of the victim. Also, after both feet with heels and toes together had been turned sideways against the cross, a third spike was driven through a board and then through both heels. The lower part of the body was therefore twisted to one side. The victim was provided with a partial seat, consisting of a simple board nailed to the cross. But he could use this seat only by allowing his torso to slump, with painful results. The weight of his sinking body sharply bent his knees and stretched out his upraised arms to an unnatural extent.

Why did the victim die? In the strangely contorted sitting position, he could breathe in, but he could not relax the muscles of the rib cage sufficiently to breathe out. Thus, to exhale, he had to push himself up, using mainly his legs. In time, overcome by weakness, he was not able to raise himself for another breath, and he died of suffocation. Some victims fought off death for two or more days. Others died sooner. Either way, the agonies of the victim, as he desperately struggled time after time to raise himself and continue breathing, were prolonged and ghastly.

END

Terms
       There is no set charge for this reading or poem, but donations are accepted. Just click the button below.
       If you decide to use the piece in a public performance, remember what Paul said, "The labourer is worthy of his reward" (1 Tim. 5:18), and what Jesus said, "The workman is worthy of his meat" (Matt. 10:10). We are allowing you to preview the piece without cost on the assumption that we are dealing with Christian people of high moral integrity, who will accept their Scriptural obligation to render a donation if they find the piece useful. The amount you send should be proportioned to the number of people in the audience.
       All donations will be used to defray expenses of maintaining and improving the Web site, or of publishing Bible study materials.

Donations are not tax deductible.

Conditions
The reading or poem is part of Bible Studies at the Moorings, copyright 2007 by Stanley Edgar Rickard (Ed Rickard, the author). The copyright is registered. You may make only as many copies as you need for the use of your own ministry. You may not make copies for broader circulation. Unauthorized copies are illegal.
Users may cut portions from the original, but all other changes require the author's permission. If printed programs are circulated at a public performance of the reading, the author must be named. We would appreciate it if you would also refer to this web site, "Bible Studies at the Moorings, http://www.themoorings.org."